


Low-Key, For Real

by Iamacarrot



Series: High-Key/Low-Key [1]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Donnie is the High-Key protector of the Chicken Nug, Leo is more Low-Key, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 17:57:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16958787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamacarrot/pseuds/Iamacarrot
Summary: At this point, it could be said that Donnie was the self-proclaimed protector of Mikey. However, when Donnie isn't there to watch over the little nug, Mikey's protection comes from an unexpected source.





	Low-Key, For Real

"It sucks that Donnie and Raph didn't want to come with us." Mikey sighed, head lain against the table at the new pizza place he and Leo had discovered.

"Ah, don't worry about it. They're just being killjoys." Leo replied, patting Mikey's head lightly.

Mikey smiled, picking his head up and looking around the newfound eatery. It wasn't anything fancy, and it had a somewhat similar build to the Run-Of-The-Mill pizza place the brothers used to go to. The waiters and waitresses were nice, too. None of them were loud, and each of them was patient. If he were being honest, Mikey had begun to fancy one particular waiter, but he refused to tell Leo about it.

The Slider could be so overprotective sometimes.

Shocking, I know.

Speaking of said waiter, the young male had stopped at a nearby table to ask for orders, and Mikey had a perfect view of the waiter's face. The attractive male was probably around sixteen or seventeen, maybe even twenty, but he looked near Mikey's age. He was a dog-like Yokai, and he had a charming personality.

Upon thinking over these features, Mikey found himself giggling, which led Leo to frown.

"Eyes on your menu." Leo huffed, turning Mikey's focus to the plastic menu on the table.

"When will you let me have a boyfriend?" Mikey asked, feeling a bit ridiculous about the fact that he had to ask permission to date from his brother who was literally only a  _year older_ than him.

"When you're old enough to drink." Leo replied.

Mikey groaned, muttering something under his breath.

"Don't even think about insulting me like that. I've done my fair share of muttering since I was younger, and I suggest you don't pick up the habit." Leo advised.

Mikey pouted. He didn't like this side of Leo. He liked the side of Leo who would make awful jokes, who would play at any time of any day. This side of Leo was just as uptight and overprotective as Donnie.

Which was honestly kind of funny, in a satirical kind of way.

If Donnie or Raph had ever found out about this side of Leo, they'd question why he had never shown it before, and they'd encourage him to show it more often. Which neither Mikey nor Leo wanted. They were perfectly fine with this side of Leo being hidden as much as possible.

"Hello. Are you ready to order?"

Mikey and Leo looked up to see the same Yokai that Mikey had been watching. With a smirk, Mikey placed his chin on his hands, giving the best form of Bedroom Eyes he could give.

"Yes, my fair sir, we are." Mikey replied.

The waiter chuckled, looking to the side awkwardly before clicking his pen. Leo went first in giving his order, and Mikey followed suit without skipping a beat, making sure to send a wink at the waiter before the flustered Yokai walked off.

"What was that?" Leo asked, a rare tone of disappointment and oncoming discipline evident in his voice.

"What was what? I wasn't doing anything." Mikey replied.

"Michelangelo, I swear to all that is our father, if you continue to act this way, I'm going to make sure you never date until I'm thirty-one." Leo hissed.

Mikey groaned, crossing his arms and leaning back against the booth he and Leo had sat in.

"You're being such a douchebag." Mikey complained.

"Excuse me? You know what? Fine. I'll let you date. But when you end up having your heart broken, don't come crying to me, or Donnie, or even Raph. April and dad are off the table, too." Leo smugly remarked.

"Fine by me. I'm perfectly capable of dealing with these types of things myself." Mikey scoffed.

"Bet." Leo challenged.

"Bet." Mikey replied.

_"Bet."_

_"Bet."_

_"BET."_

_"BET!"_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, how was your trip to the new pizza place?" Raph asked.

"It was alright. Their pizza's pretty good." Leo replied.

Mikey said nothing, a pout on his face as he walked to his room, closing his door and plopping onto his bed.

He had been led on.

And then rejected.

"What was that about?" Donnie asked.

"Eh, how should I know? Mikey's always going off about something." Leo replied, his protective instincts having instantly faded as soon as he and Mikey had entered the lair.

Donnie and Raph looked to each other, having a silent conversation before nodding. Donnie then turned and began walking to Mikey's room.

"Don't go to console him! I'm sure he's fine!" Leo huffed.

"Why are you always so mean to him?" Raph asked.

"I'm not  _mean_ , I'm just not one to coddle him." Leo replied, lazily plopping down onto Splinter's couch and sticking his tongue out.

Mikey had made the bet. And had lost. Now he had to face the consequences.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Michael? You alright?" Donnie asked, knocking on Mikey's door.

"I'm  _fine_. Go away." Mikey replied, voice muffled.

He had been crying, and had buried his face in his pillow to keep quiet while he had done so.

"Michael, I'm coming in." Donnie announced, opening Mikey's door.

Mikey groaned. Why did he agree to not tell?

"Why are you upset?" Donnie asked.

Straight to the point. Great.

"I'm not upset. 'm just tired. And I wanna be left alone." Mikey muttered.

"What did Leo do?" Donnie asked.

"Leo didn't do anything. I'm just tired. Please just let me get some sleep." Mikey huffed.

"Fine. But you know you can come talk to me or Raph when you need to, right?" Donnie asked.

Mikey nodded, accepting the gentle nuzzle he'd received before watching as Donnie left. Why couldn't Donnie have gone with them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Leo? Can I talk to you?" Mikey asked, having walked into Leo's room.

It had been two weeks since Mikey's rejection, and it still hit the poor teenager hard.

"I thought I told you _not_ to talk to me." Leo replied, snout in a book he was most obviously not reading.

The dang thing was upside-down, for crying out loud.

"Why does it still hurt so much?" Mikey asked, despite Leo's comment.

Leo glanced to the side, seeing Mikey for the first time in a while, who was a broken mess.

With a sigh, Leo tossed the book to the side, sitting up and opening his arms. Mikey sobbed, crawling onto Leo's bed and wrapping his arms around Leo, refusing to let go any time soon.

"And you wonder why I never let you date." Leo chuckled, rubbing Mikey's shell calmly.

"I'm sorry." Mikey whimpered.

"You're fine. You just wanted to prove a point. No judgement from me." Leo replied.

"You aren't mad?" Mikey asked.

"Oh, I'm pissed, but I'm still going to be here for you." Leo hummed.

Mikey giggled, nuzzling under Leo's chin before pulling back.

"You're welcome. Now get out, and don't tell the others about this." Leo instructed.

Mikey smiled, hugging Leo once more before hopping off of Leo's bed and making his way out of the door. Groaning, Leo lay back down, sticking his tongue out in a blep before mentally cursing as he heard footsteps.

"Mikey, did I not just tell you to-" Leo stopped, blushing as he was met with the sight of Donnie and Raph standing in his room, both smirking.

"You've gotta be kidding me."


End file.
